Trust but Verify, 2016 Sailing Olympics at Guanabara Bay

As written before, the United States Olympic Committee performed water tests in Guanabara Bay the current venue of the 2016 Olympics. Reports have said that the International Sailing Federation will or has done water quality tests. A variety of countries have said they too would do water quality tests of the fetid waters of Rio.

Results are no where to be seen.

Note - If anyone who has the water quality report would send them to me via email or postal mail - whitepages,com can find me in Elmhurst, IL, I will put them on the internet and take your name to the grave with me. No one will know who you are other than me. Or mail them anonymously.

A charity I have long been associated with awards grants to Olympic hopefuls. With the Rio 2016 Olympics now a game of chance with competitors randomly getting ill, boats randomly crashing into trash either stopping or slowing their progress on the race course, there is a second gamble not discussed yet.

The second gamble is, should our charity (and others) support Sailing Olympians in 2016? What if with our support the sailor becomes ill and needs medical treatment in Rio during the games missing some of the races? What if the sailor receives a disease that is with him or her for days, weeks, months, years or a lifetime? Morally, and obviously financially, should we be supporting this?

How horrible would we feel if our supported athletes (who are our friends) were sidelined with illness, slowed down in competition, or damage to their boat hitting trash? Our hopes are dashed too. Is this an appropriate use of our investment, would we be better off skipping 2016 support and giving the money to 2020 Olympic hopefuls where it could be a fair contest?

Without water quality results telling us that the water is safe, we must presume that there is something to hide. All the time while officials assure us with their words that jamming the athletes with prophylactic medications is the solution to send the athletes into the raw sewage filled waters.

It reminds me of the time when in American football after an athlete was knocked out they would hold up fingers asking the athlete to tell them how many were being held up, if they saw the right number of fingers they were put back onto the field. And today we have advanced where a concussion is handled completely differently. Or the days where a knee, elbow or shoulder was injured and the doctor would give a shot of cortisone into the joint and send the player back out onto the field. Is this what Sailing in the Olympics has come to?

This is the early days of drugging the Sailing athletes in order to compete. We have no idea what the long term ramifications of this approach will be. The athletes are guinea pigs and subjects of the International Olympic Committee, International Sailing Federation and the Member National Authorities. None of the decision makers will ever touch, or ingest these polluted waters themselves.

When Russia and the U.S. said they would dismantle some of their nuclear missiles, President Reagan said he wanted U.S. inspectors there to verify their destruction. Russia was resisting. Then Reagan explained that the need to inspect was to, "Trust, but verify."

All of the world wishes to "trust, but verify" that the water in Rio de Janeiro in Guanabara Bay is safe for each countries athletes.

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Meet The Blogger

Glenn McCarthy

As a lifelong sailor, I want to share Chicago's most unused Park called Lake Michigan with everyone. Most of the time sailing is idyllic, and rare moments are scary. Sailors are fun family types, who go out for exercise, fresh air, sunshine and rain, camaraderie, and just to get away from it all. My plan with this blog is to explain the entry points, and most importantly destroy the myth that it is expensive. Your network of friends will amaze you with people of all walks of life. In fact, a sailor who is a writer for the Chicago Tribune recommended I write this blog. Your journey begins here..........